Bill Clinton to Co-Chair Haiti Rebuilding Commission

At the Haiti donor conference it was announced that a new authority would be created to manage donor funds and reconstruction efforts.  The so-called Interim Haiti Recovery Commission will be co-chaired by Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive. The commission will include a mix of local authorities and international donors.   As it happens, the economist Paul Collier predicted the creation of this very sort of commission about two months ago. The idea is to hit the right mix between giving locals a direct stake in reconstruction efforts and satisfying international donors that their funds are being used wisely. Having Bill Clinton co-chair the commission is a good way to achieve the later, while including Haitian authorities and civil society makes sure that this remains a Haitian-driven process.  The ultimate goal, as Bill Clinton said today, is to “work himself out of a job.”